Free Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles by A.J. Norfield

finally settling in one of the smaller cities on the grass plains of Aeterra. His father had always survived as an excellent hunter in a region where many dangerous animals lived. While Ca’lek, even at a young age, had often joined his father and the other men on their hunting trips. His father always made sure he got the needed experience to track their prey and scout the land for any possible dangers. Luckily, he had not just inherited his parent’s darker skin, but also his family’s exceptional eyesight, for which their bloodline had always been admired. It had allowed him to secure a spot in the army as a scout, when he was finding his own way in the world.
    Now Ca’lek let his eyes wander the land, reading it like his father had explained to him so many times. The valley stretched out westward before his feet. To the north, he saw the mountains of the White North loom on the horizon. Their black silhouettes were all covered with frozen white tops. As the barren slopes descended into the valley, the first needle trees stood as lonely mountaineers trying to scale the dangerous mountains. While below, a thick forest filled up the bottom of the valley. A thin silver line twisted through the valley. It was the cold-water river—which they followed for a number of days—that provided them with fresh drinking water. It eventually flowed more toward the south, going around the southern mountain range that join with the very foothills of the cliff he stood on. The valley slowly narrowed toward the path that led up to the cliff. On his right side, the path reached the top of the cliff only a small distance from Ca’lek’s position. From his current vantage point, he only saw the first turn as the path beyond was obstructed from view. The cliff dropped too steeply to see more of the path before it disappeared under the canopy of the needle forest.
    Looking past the tops of the southern mountains, Ca’lek saw a dark shimmer on the horizon. His experience and knowledge of the geographical layout of the continents told him that those were the shimmers of the cold, dark waters of the Great Eastern Divide. Judging by the distance, the coast was at least a ten day journey, maybe more, depending on the terrain beyond those southern mountains. From there, it should be a number of days more to get to the northern most top of the Great Eastern Divide. Once there, the coastal area was actually a very small crossing between the oceanic waters and the first slopes of the White North, which were said to be almost impossible to cross. One could probably ride a horse and reach those lowest slopes from the coastal line in a day or two, maybe three.
    Aeterra’s trading ships had not always been solely westbound. Attempts had been made to map the coastline going along the edges of the Great Eastern Divide. Scouting vessels and pioneer trading ships had set sail—every so often—to try their luck, hoping to find fame and fortune; but very few actually returned from Doskova.
    Those sailors who did, told stories of dark cliffs rising out of the sea, and lands with thick, dark forests full of witches and trolls. Few people actually believed in those creatures, but a dark forest easily played tricks on your mind. The more reliable stories brought back news of savage tribes, hunting any who dared set foot on land, and no civilization to be found.
    Eventually, people gave up on trying their luck, it had been decades since an expedition set out to the east. The landmass to the east received the name Doskova more than two century ago. It was the old language—which was all but replaced—meaning ‘dark hollows’, most likely referring to the dark forests stretching the continent. In the now common Terran language, it was simply referred to as The Dark Continent.
    Many believed no civilized life could be found there, and evil forces were at work in those dark forests…Ca’lek included. But now, he was not so certain anymore, after all…those